RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA (CNS) - It took close to an hour and a half for 25 firefighters, including an urban search and rescue team, to free a 3-year-old boy whose legs were stuck in home pool filter, a fire captain said Sunday.

"The child had slid down into the strainer mechanism that is located at the pool edge and in a squatting position his legs had become wedged under the pool coping," said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi, adding that the child was not injured.

Firefighters were dispatched at 5:15 p.m. Saturday to a home in the 20 block of Highpoint regarding a rescue call, Concialdi said.

"Crews made many attempts to lift the child out of the apparatus by using dishwashing soap and different positions to free his legs, however the attempts were not successful," he said.

Instead, a plan that included the removal of the pool coping and surrounding material -- including concrete -- allowed for the pool filter strainer to be removed, and the child was freed at 6:42 p.m. Saturday, Concialdi said.